This new local online news thingy, Bristol 24/7, reported on Tuesday:
Simon Cook – executive member for the culture, sport and tourism projects executive – told a press conference held at the Marriott Hotel, College Green, that the costs of being a [World Cup] bid city would be recouped by the revenue gained.
Sounds good. Pretty clear isn’t it? Senior politician states on the record that there’s no costs to the taxpayer there. It’ll pay for itself through the massive amount of money it’s gonna make right?
Then yesterday a key member of the World Cup bid ‘executive team’, the serial quangocrat, John Savage, appeared in the Cancer billed as “a respected member of the business community with more than 40 years experience of management”. He said:
The Bristol bid team are hoping inclusion will also help secure funding from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA)
“I think the Government would have to be a bit blind to ignore it.
“They have trained their attention on the north so if they want cities in the south they need to help us jump some of the transport hurdles.
“There’s an implicit understanding that more funding would be available.”
SWRDA? Funding? He’s talking about taxpayers money here isn’t he? No mention of funding the World Cup from “revenued gained” is there?
So what’s going on? One day politician says World Cup will make money and pay for itself. Next day his quangocrat colleague says it will be publicly funded.
Does anyone know what’s going on?
Savage’s phrase “implicit understanding” is especially intriguing. Is an “implicit understanding” with a government on its last legs that needs to cut billions in spending and a regional development quango that will be disbanded after elections next year enough of a guarantee to start punting £50 million of our money on four footie matches?
If the council get inextricably caught up in this World Cup lark we might as well just hand over a blank cheque to Lansdown and his mates.
Unlike the bureaucrats who supposedly run this city these business types know exactly what they’re doing and guess who’s going to end up paying for it all.
I’ve just been reading a column by Antony Jay (co-author of Yes, Minister, etc.) where he refers to “the folly, waste and destructive nature of bureaucracy” ( http://bit.ly/KHms4 ) . This is a case in point.
I think it’s pretty clear the Council is already inextricably caught up in this World Cup lark.
Jandroid is well up for it.
It’s a done deal. All that’s left is for us to pick up the tab.
What we need to focus on is getting Wray and Ormondroyd to give us the cost. Then when it spirals (probably within a year or two) we can get these tossers out for good.
its done